


Coffee Stains

by Fliptail27



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2018-08-11 02:26:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7872412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fliptail27/pseuds/Fliptail27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ja'far and Sinbad go to the same college to be able to move on with the rest of their life. What happens when Ja'far accidentally bumps into Sinbad? Are things going to spiral out of control?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Starbucks

**Author's Note:**

> So here is my warning: I'm not entirely sure where I am going with this fic. It's going to probably be slow on updates too. This is one of those "It just sort of happened fanfics". So please enjoy it while it lasts.

Ja’far was reading and walking, it was an art he had perfected over the years. He was a simple dude, he liked his faded ripped jeans, his one-size-too-large long sleeve shirts that covered almost his whole hand, his book and his one true love his tea. He had beautiful pale blonde hair, a dark smattering of freckles dusting his nose and cheekbones and piercing green eyes. He probably looked like one of those philosophy majors but he didn’t care. His next English 101 started in about half an hour, but Ja’far liked to be early. He rounded a corner and got two steps in before bumping into a solid mass, dropping his starbucks. The coffee cup fell almost as if in slow motion, Ja’far dreading the end result, before the solid mass flashed out and caught the cup without a single drop wasted. The solid mass turned out to be a handsome boy. He had long purple hair tied back to keep it out of his face, he had the most captivating glittering golden eyes. He was wearing a black fitted tee shirt under a purple collared shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, faded black jeans and converse shoes. He was handsome, but he looked like a real snob. 

“Isn’t starbucks kind of cliche?” The man asked.

“I don’t see how my beverage choice is any of your business.” Ja’far shot back defensively, deigning to lower his book and turn the full might of his glower unto this arrogant prick who was still standing in his way. 

“Well seeing as I was almost wearing your beverage, I think I should at least get to know your name.” the purple haired man replied conversationally, completely unfazed by the hostility being thrown at him. 

“Tch...you bumped into me.” Ja’far shot back again.

“Fine my name is Sinbad. Though I would like to point out that you were the one reading in walking. Odds are you bumped into me first.” Sinbad said with a confident smile. 

“I don’t bump into people. I’m really good at reading. I’m am entirely positive it's your fault.” Ja’far said narrowing his eyes. He was sure that this prick was making fun of him. 

“Are you just plain out refusing to tell me your name?” Sinbad said with a huff and a roll of his eyes. Couldn’t this idiot tell he was trying to flirt with him?

“Depends. Are you going to give me my tea back?” Ja’far shot back, thoroughly annoyed. 

“Name first.” Sinbad demanded, holding Ja’far’s cup far out of his reach. 

“Ugh...fine my name is Ja’far.” He held out his hand waiting for his drink.  
“Ja’far, I rather like that. Well since I bumped into you or whatever let me buy you a new drink.” Sinbad offered, putting on his most dazzling smile.

“What’s the point? My drink is fine.” Ja’far asked irritated. This guy was eating up way more of his time than he should have, and now he is asking for more. The nerve of this guy.

Sinbad nodded, looking solemn, then he tossed Ja’far’s tea into a wastebasket not so far away. “And now I owe you a new drink.”

Ja’far grumbled in irritation. That tea was going to be his saving grace for the day and now it was gone. “Fine you can buy me a new one after my class. But make no mistake I am only doing this because I need my tea to function.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it being any other way.” Sinbad said a cocky smile plastered on his face. He finally stepped out of the way to let the disgruntled Ja’far slip past to go to class. Amusingly enough, Sinbad was in the same class but he felt he shouldn’t press his luck. He sat behind Ja’far and stared at the beautiful pale golden locks all class long. This was the class he was most exciting he had all semester, however this enigma in front of him was occupying his thoughts. After class, Sinbad descended upon Ja’far and swept him away to the nearest Starbucks. 

As they muddled through the line, Sinbad literally couldn’t stop staring at Ja’far. They got to the cash register, Ja’far ordered an English Breakfast Tea Latte and Sinbad just got some black coffee. He picked a table far off the beaten path and watched as Ja’far glowered into his drink. The frown slowly melted into a satisfied smile as he drank his tea, it was simply captivating to Sinbad.

“So what’s your major?” Sinbad asked curiously.

“Does it matter?” Ja’far replied, though without any true venom in his voice. 

“Fine. Let’s see if I can guess. How about an English major?” Sinbad asked, since Ja’far was in an english class it was entirely possible. Ja’far snorted into his drink. “I’ll take that as a no. Philosophy? You look like the philosophical type.”

“Absolutely not. I’m a business major.” Ja’far grumbled. 

“Oh...I would never have guessed that.” Sinbad replied looking at the tea loving bookworm in front of him and tried to imagine him in business suit in some stuffy office. 

“That’s precisely why I stopped you.” Ja’far replied, rolling his eyes. “What’s about yours?”

“Ah...I am actually an English major myself. I was in your English class just now.” Sinbad replied.

“Oh I didn’t notice you.”

“No I imagine you wouldn’t. You seemed to be too busy grumbling to yourself.” Sinbad replied with a smirk. 

“Well maybe if someone hadn’t tossed my tea.” Ja’far said, a light pink dusting his freckles. 

“Fair enough, however I wouldn’t change it for the world.” Sinbad said seriously, smiling. 

“Whatever, I have to go to class.” Ja’far said, looking away. He stood up hastily and grabbed his tea. He was out the door before Sinbad got another word out, however left behind was numbers scratched onto a napkin. Sinbad smirked to himself, but the smirk grew into a look of worry. What was he doing? He really like this kid he had bumped into, but that didn’t make this right. What if he got caught? What the hell was he going to tell his boyfriend, Judar?


	2. Bored

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judar and Sinbad have a fight over privacy and Ja'far talks about his new crush with his best friend.

Sinbad was still in Starbucks puzzling over his next move, when his phone buzzed. He glanced and saw it was a text from Judar.

J: I’m bored.  
S: So?  
J: So: Come play with me  
S: I can’t I have homework  
J: Since when has that ever stopped you?  
S: I seriously need to do this homework, I will talk to you later okay?

Judar didn’t answer after that and Sinbad knew that he wasn’t going to hear anything else for a while. He really did like Judar in the beginning, but now things with him seems to have changed. He is just so damn clingy and controlling. As if every moment not spent studying needed to be spent with him. God forbid Sinbad have any attractive friends. With a shake of his head, Sinbad headed to the library to do his homework, might as well get it done if it was serving as a cover story. Sinbad was making good progress in his self-introductory essay when a strong pair of arms snaked their way across his chest and a warm breath tickled his ear. 

“I thought I told you I had homework to do.” Sinbad sighed. He should have seen this coming from a mile away and done his homework on a laptop in starbucks. 

“But it’s just so boring without you.” Judar whined. 

Sinbad let out a helpless sigh. “Fine so long as you're here, can you watch my stuff so I can use the bathroom?” 

“Yeah whatever.” Judar plopped down in Sinbad’s seat and waited for Sin’s return. Judar noticed Sin’s phone sitting out there in the open like that and decided to go through it. Just to see what Sinbad was saying about him to his friends. It was probably along the lines of ‘Judar is the best boyfriend ever. I just love everything about him.’ Judar chuckled. He flipped through a few messages but there was not even one mention of him, he did see however that one of the messages to Yamuraiha (Sinbad’s best friend) said something about a Ja’far. Who the hell was this Ja’far dude? Judar saw that Sinbad had recently added Ja’far to his contacts too. When Sinbad came back, Judar remained stationary in his seat and just glared at Sinbad. “Who the hell is Ja’far?”

“What?” Sinbad asked thoroughly confused. 

“Ja’far? This new dude that is all of the sudden in your contacts? Who is he?” Judar asked again through gritted teeth.

“What the hell? Did you do through my phone?” Sinbad was livid, this was a major invasion of his privacy. Who the hell did Judar think he was? When Judar didn’t immediately answer, it spoke volumes to SInbad. “Judar this is the last straw. We can’t do this anymore.”

“What the hell? Are you breaking up with me?” Judar asked astonished. 

“Yes.” Sinbad answered, cool as a cucumber. He knew this was about to be a scene. 

“What was the first straw, huh? I thought we were great!” Judar said, his volume slowly rising. Soon he was going to be yelling.

“There have been plenty of straws Judar.” Sinbad sighed, he was almost tired. Somehow Judar generally had this effect on him. 

“It’s this guy isn’t it? You're dumping me for some new piece of tail right?” Judar was beside himself, he didn’t know what to do in this situation. No one had ever had the nerve to break up with him. 

“This has nothing to do with Ja’far. This has everything to do with us. More specifically you being overly controlling.” Sinbad was fighting to keep his temper under control, if he started yelling they both would get kicked out.

‘Seems I struck a nerve, mentioning this Ja’far kid.” Judar narrowed his eyes.

“Ja’far is just some dude that I knocked over and bought a new coffee for. He is no one special.” Sinbad out right lied, but he knew that Judar was never going to listen to him until he got Ja’far out of the way.

“So this is it then? After all that time.” Judar asked angry tears springing to his eyes. Instead to waiting for Sinbad to answer he just yelled “Fine!!!” and stormed out of the library, knocking over a set of books on the way. Sinbad sighed, well it had to be done. He was sad for the loss of Judar but he knew from the beginning that it was doomed to fail. Both of them had too big of personalities. Judar was too controlling and Sinbad enjoyed his freedom too much. He brought out his phone to text Yamuraiha, he needed a best friend night after all that. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ja’far was grumbling to himself as he opened the room to his dorm. He threw his backpack down angrily and glared with all his might at the now empty starbucks cup.

“Bad day?” Ja’far’s best friend Sharrkan asked with an amused smile. He was pretty much the opposite of Ja’far in every way, he had golden tan skin, white carefully styled hair and golden green eyes. He was a lady killer and one of the most social people you would ever meet. Compared to the shut-in that was Ja’far, most didn’t understand how the two could possibly be friends, let alone best friends.

“Ugh.” was Ja’far’s only response. 

“Alright quit muttering to yourself and tell me about it.” Sharrkan laughed at the expression that crossed Ja’far’s face. 

“I don’t mutter.” Ja’far said indignantly. Sharrkan raised an eyebrow at that ludicrous statement. “Shut up. Do you want to hear what happened or not?”

“Alright I’m sorry please go on.” 

“Well it all started when this dude bumps into me. He caught my tea then threw it in the goddamn trash so he could buy me a new one.” Ja’far flopped down on the bed and crossed his arms.

“Was he cute?” Sharrkan asked.

“Yeah but he is probably an arrogant asshole.” Ja’far scowled at the ground. He couldn’t believe that he had left his number. What in the world had possessed him to do such an uncharacteristic thing?

“Oooohhh...Ja’far is finally going to be getting some action. What’s his name? I need to stalk him now.” Sharrkan leaned forward, thoroughly excited that his best friend finally was making progress. 

“His name is Sinbad and I don’t even know if he was flirting with me or not. I couldn’t tell, you know how bad I am at that shit. Well I left my number so I guess we will see if he texts me back.” Ja’far said. He was actually terrified that the beautiful boy wasn’t going to text him and he had completely misread the situation. 

“Oh I’m sure he was flirting. I mean who wouldn’t you're quite a catch.” Sharrkan laughed as Ja’far rolled his eyes. Sharrkan decided he needed to find out who this Sinbad was and give them the typical best friend speech. Don’t hurt my boy or you will need to move to Alaska, etc., etc. he needed to find out who had finally caught Ja’far’s eye.


	3. Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad and Ja'far have something of a real date.

Ja’far was glaring daggers at anyone who even dared get in his way as he walked down the hall. It had been a whole week since he had left Sinbad his number, and by now he was sure the beautiful boy had just been toying with him. He was still grumbling aloud at the “arrogant prick” and “the nerve of some people.” when a starbucks cup was thrust under his nose. It held the most wonderful aroma of chai tea. Ja’far looked up the hand to the handsome face of Sinbad who was smiling broadly at him. 

“Good morning!” Sinbad said, helping himself to the seat next to Ja’far in the nearly empty lecture hall, they were both nearly a half hour early to class. 

“You didn’t have to do this.” Ja’far grumbled into the cup but enjoying the tea none the less. It really was his saving grace, and everyone else’s saving grace from his foul moods. 

“I know. I hope you like chai tea, the barista said everyone who likes tea likes chai tea.” Sinbad said, a cloud of concern darkening his cheerful smile. 

Ja’far nearly chuckled aloud at his concern. “I like chai. Isn’t starbucks kind of cliche?” Ja’far had a hint of a smile playing about his pale lips. 

“Ah indeed it is. But unlike you I own my cliche, for I am an english major with starbucks flirting with a cute boy. The only thing that would make this moment more college would be chinese take out and the university sweater. Though fear not I wouldn’t be caught dead in the colors of our school, I mean blue and gold you have got to be kidding me?”

Ja’far blushed at the thought of being called cute, though his inner demon grumbled that he wasn’t ‘cute’ he was handsome and mysterious. Sinbad loved the way Ja’far’s freckles stood out against the light pink dusting of his cheeks and endeavored to make the occurrence more common. 

“Would you like to come over to my place for dinner tonight?” The words had tumbled out of Sinbad’s mouth before he even consciously knew what he was doing. 

“Um...what?” Ja’far asked, blinking his green eyes in confusion. Wasn’t that kind of serious? Like an actual date rather than some low key flirting?

“Well I figured that you must eat as all humans tend to do to stay alive, and I happen to like to cook quite a bit, and so I figured that you could come over and eat?” Sinbad’s mouth was working without the express permission of his brain again. 

“Uh...well I do have class after this...but I suppose after that I’m free.” Ja’far said, making a snap decision. He really hoped he wasn’t going to live to regret this. 

“Great! What time do you get out? I can pick you up then and take you to my apartment it isn’t far.” Sinbad was nearly jumping out of his seat, he was so ecstatic. After his messy break up with Judar, he hadn’t been up to flirting with Ja’far through texts and he felt pretty bad that he had never texted him. But now here he was inviting the pale blonde beauty to his apartment like it was no big deal. 

“Uh...I get out at four but I probably won’t leave until five so you can pick me up then I suppose. Um are you planning to murder me tonight though? I don’t think that would work out best for everyone involved.” Ja’far was deadly serious and Sinbad couldn’t figure out if he was joking or not.

“Well no. I hadn’t planned on killing you but I suppose we'll just have to see where the night leads us. I want to make sure we leave every option open.” Sinbad winked at Ja’far and grinned. The ghost of a smile hit Ja’far’s lips before he busied himself with taking another big gulp of his chai latte. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After English class, Sinbad immediately went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for his meal. He didn’t want to overthink things so he was going to keep it simple with a veal bolognese. Ja’far looked pretty skinny anyway and a good pasta dish would definitely help with that. After he picked up everything he needed he got the sauce simmering and went to clean up his apartment a bit. It wasn’t like it was dirty but with Ja’far Sinbad wanted everything to be perfect. Once the apartment was clean and there were only a few things left to do for dinner, he went to pick up Ja’far in his sleek silver hyundai elantra. Ja’far climbed into the passenger seat, and marvelled at the sleek interior. Sinbad noticed that he had changed his shirt into a nicer thermal light grey long sleeve shirt with a hood. It was pretty nice but he noticed that Ja’far never wore short sleeves. Sinbad decided to chalk it up to the whole enigma that was Ja’far. Once they pulled up to Sinbad’s apartment, Sin led the way then carefully watched Ja’far’s reaction to his place. Ja’far was awestruck the apartment was nice, like really nice. The walls were a nice shade of grey with complimentary white furniture. The kitchen had a breakfast bar just off the door and a small dining area near it. The apartment also smelled like cinnamon, Ja’far liked it. He walked forward and sat at the breakfast bar as Sinbad finished dinner. When it was finished they walked together and sat at the dining table. Ja’far started in and was amazed at how good it was, Sinbad could really cook. 

“So what do you think?” Sinbad asked nervously, this shocked him a little. Since when was he nervous about anything?

“It's amazing, thanks.” Ja’far replied attacking the pasta. 

“You must be pretty hungry.” Sinbad laughed, then started to eat himself.

“Yeah I’m not sure when the last time I ate was.” Ja’far raised a shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. He could get wrapped up in life and just forget to eat. Sinbad frowned at him but said nothing. He made a mental note to make food for him more often just to make sure that he ate.  
Once the boys finished the pasta, Ja’far stood up and started clearing the plates away. “Since you cooked I’ll do the dishes.”

“Thank you but you don’t have to do that.” Sinbad was kind of startled by Ja’far’s sudden pleasantness, he was kind of a prickly person, not that Sin minded. 

“Well my stepmom would come down here and beat the snot out of me if I let you do the dishes too. She would already be furious with how I’ve been acting so I don’t mind. At least I can do something she would be happy with.” Ja’far explained as he gathered the dishes and started to wash them. He even went so far to roll up his sleeves, something unheard of in Sinbad’s opinion.

“Stepmom?” Sinbad asked as he hoisted himself onto his counter to watch Ja’far work. 

“Mhmm…” Ja’far didn’t seem like he was going to elaborate. He lifted his arm out of the soapy water and that’s when Sinbad noticed something. He grabbed Ja’far’s arm before it went back into the abyss of soap and dishes. There were silvery scars crisscrossing Ja’far’s arm. 

“What’s this?”

“I had something of a rough start in life.” Ja’far explained. “Before I was adopted by my step-mom Rurumu I lived in an orphanage. I have worse than these, these were just me being stupid as a teen.”

Sinbad was pretty surprised, no wonder he was prickly. Sinbad decided then and there he must date this boy. After the dishes were done, Sinbad drove Ja’far home. Before Ja’far could escape into the dormitory, Sin kissed him. It was a thoughtful kiss. Ja’far was kinda weirded out at first but then he relaxed into it and then actually enjoyed it. The kiss was over in a flash but it left Ja’far breathless. 

“I’ll call you.” Sinbad said as he got back into his car and drove away. Ja’far stood there exploring this new fuzzy feeling inside him for a long time, eventually he went into his dorm. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Judar was just walking around and sulking. He saw Sinbad’s elantra and then saw Sinbad talking to some dude with pale hair. He moved into the shadows waiting to see what happened. Then Sinbad kissed the guy. Judar was filled with unspeakable anger the nerve of Sinbad to start dating only a week after their breakup. That freak must be Ja’far. Judar resolved to find out everything about Ja’far then break them up. After that Sinbad would come crawling back. Yes this was the way to do it, he would have Sinbad back if it cost him everything.


	4. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sharrkan confronts Sinbad about Ja'far. Ja'far and Sinbad get caught together in a rain storm and Ja'far reveals some details about his past.

“Oh my god!” Sharrkan squealed as Ja’far gave him the run down of the surprising date. Ja’far even had a quiet smile on his face as he explained. Sharrkan had been best friends with Ja’far for a long time. In all that time, Ja’far had never really been big on smiling. He could fake a smile when the time came sure, but a genuine smile? That was an entirely different matter. He was a somewhat sullen person with quite a bit of trauma under his belt, not that he ever talked about it. The fact that he was smiling was a big deal. Sharrkan really needed to have a talk with this Sinbad. “So you like him?”

“Yeah I guess he’s alright.” Ja’far said with a non committal shrug of his shoulders.

“Well I think you two are kind of dating, so he needs to be a bit better that ‘alright’.” Sharrkan said with a broad smile.

“Fine I guess he’s pretty alright.” Ja’far rolled his eyes at Sharrkan. “What am I going to do now?” Ja’far’s face turned serious and there was a worried set to his pale blonde eyebrows. Uncertainty seemed to blossom in the fathomless depths of his green eyes. 

“Ja’far just be yourself.” Sharrkan replied. 

“Mmm...I’m going to read.” Ja’far said changing the subject. 

“Shouldn’t you be going to bed? You only got like an hour of sleep last night.” Sharrkan was lying down in his own bed preparing for the sweet abyss of sleep.

“No, you know I don’t really like sleeping.” Ja’far replied, pulling out an old weathered book. Yep exactly as Sharrkan expected. He knew that was the answer he was going to get, but he couldn’t help worrying.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sinbad was strolling down the halls of the university with a huge grin plastered on his face. Every time he tried to stop smiling the happy giddy feelings would increase ten fold, leaving him grinning like a lunatic again. Sharrkan spotted Sinbad rom down the hall and strode purposefully towards him. He snagged Sinbad’s elbow and walked into an empty classroom, shutting the door behind them.

“Uh can I help you?” Confusion swept over his features. On the bright side, being trapped in an empty classroom with a complete stranger had gotten the stupid smile off his face. 

“We need to talk. I’m Ja’far’s best friend, Sharrkan.”

“Okay, well I’m Sinbad. So what’s up?”

“Look Ja’far’s a great guy, but he has a lot of issues. He has some past problems that he hasn’t really worked through. I just want you to know what you're getting yourself into.” Sharrkan had a troubled look on his tanned face. If Ja’far knew he was saying anything at all, he would be insanely pissed off. But Sharrkan didn’t want Ja’far to get hurt because this guy was trying to get a one-night stand.

“Um thanks for the warning? What kind of problems are we talking about here?” This was kind of weird for Sinbad. One thing was for sure, he didn’t want to hurt Ja’far. 

“That’s kind of his place to tell you. Just know that if you ever deliberately hurt him, you better move to Alaska before I find you.” Sharrkan was deadly serious. 

“Okay well I have no intentions to hurt him...like ever, but I will keep it in mind. It’s been great being threatened by you and all, but I do have places to be. Have a nice day.” Sinbad flashed a brilliant smile and waltzed out of the classroom. Sharrkan’s words played rather heavily on Sin’s heart, Ja’far and he needed to have a serious talk.

Sinbad took out his phone and sent a quick text to Ja’far.

S: Hey handsome do you want to go for coffee later? ;)  
J: Well I need to do some stuff until like 8. After that?  
S: Works for me. I’ll pick you up.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At about 7:55 Sinbad pulled up to Ja’far’s dorm and texted him to alert his presence. He came out and got into the car, pulling his sleeves further over his hands, probably a nervous habit. The ride to starbucks was very quiet, Sinbad kept trying to think of a way to ask Ja’far about his past, but everything he tried in his head sounded cliche or prying. When they arrived, Sinbad held the door open for Ja’far and pretended everything was fine. The shop was completely empty and the barista walked out of the back to greet them.

“We’re actually closing in like five minutes, so your order is going to have to be to-go.” the barista gave them a half-hearted smile. He clearly wanted to leave. 

“Oh I’m really sorry.” Ja’far said quietly. He really was an enigma to Sinbad, one minute he was prickly and standoffish then next he apologetic and meek. They both ordered quickly, Sinbad got a regular coffee and Ja’far got a cinnamon chai latte. They both went straight back to the car as a light sprinkle started. The rain increased dramatically the minute they were both in the car becoming a torrential down pour.

“I think we should wait for the rain to let up before we drive back.” Sinbad said to Ja’far. The car was pretty dark and the rain was drumming rhythmically on the windows, so if Ja’far answered Sinbad couldn’t hear it. The two sat in awkward silence for a minute as Sinbad once again struggling with his words. 

“Okay what’s bothering you?” Ja’far asked. Busted.

“Well I was just kind of wondering about your past. You said it was rough and I was trying to find a way to ask without sounding probing and insensitive. If you don’t want to tell me though you don’t have to.” Sinbad shifted in his seat. This was kind of heavy material for a second date but Sin wanted to get it out of the way so he wouldn’t unintentionally hurt Ja’far with a careless comment.

“Oh...well I guess if you want to know that bad it's fine. If you ever have a question just ask it, I’m not big on dancing around and subtleties. I’m not sure where to start, I guess I was in an orphanage after my parents died.” Ja’far stopped unsure of what to say next. 

Sinbad took that as a hint that he needed a little prompting. “How did your parents die?”

“Well um...I sort of killed them.” Ja’far said quietly. “I was about seven years old and I let an intruder into the house. I thought he was a nice person. Anyway he kept me at gunpoint and robbed by parents blind. He ended up shooting them both because they were trying to get me to safety. After that I went to the orphanage, where the children were worked like slave labor to make money and if you didn’t perform there were consequences. Eventually I ran away and tried to steal from my stepmom. She caught me then decided to adopt me. I’m not sure why, I was something of a terrible child. She taught me how to read and write and put me through school. For a long why I was nothing but an unmannered ungrateful mess, but she finally got through to me, for the most part. So now you see, I’m kind of a horrible person.” 

“I don’t think you're a horrible person.” Sinbad said firmly. Now he saw what Sharrkan menat. Ja’far had zero self esteem, major trust issues and abandonment issues. Well he was going to have to see what he could do about that. “You know I really like you. I would actually really like to be officially dating you too. Would that be alright?”

Ja’far was silent for a minute. Sinbad wasn’t pitying him and trying to coddle him. He wasn’t turning away from Ja’far in appalled disgust. He was simply accepting his dark past and moving on. “Okay.” Ja’far said it very quietly, afraid that if he said it any louder this dream would shatter and he would be left with a horrible reality. Sinbad took Ja’far’s hand and sat with him as the storm continued on in companionable silence.


	5. Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judar starts to take revenge on Ja'far, meanwhile Ja'far's family drops by unannounced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the length (if I should really even apologize for extra story!) this chapter sort of got away from me as things just started happening. Originally it was going to be way longer, but I decided to trim it down since it was so long. Hope you like it and as always please read and review!!!!

I can’t believe that punk. What gives him the right to take MY boy toy? And they already kissed! What a tramp? Probably giving it out easy to brainwash Sinbad no doubt. What the hell can I do to get rid of him? Geez I am so friggen angry. That’s it, if I put him in the hospital he can’t continue to date Sinbad. Hehe, perfect! Judar stomped around the campus as his plan started to form in his thoughts. He needed to find this Ja’far and put an end to his romance, once and for all.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Ja’far was walking home from his job at the bookstore. It was well past 10 thanks to a difficult last customer. The entire college campus was empty and quiet, exactly how Ja’far loved it to be. He was watching the stars and quieting his mind as he walked. Any chance he had to shut up his inner demons and haunting memories, he immediately took. Ja’far was forcibly dragged out of his reverie by a voice coming from the shadows. 

 

“Are you Ja’far?” the voice asked.

 

“So what if I am?” Ja’far asked in irritation. His mind was turned back on without his consent.

 

“You’re a piece of trash, you know that? Completely unworthy to even breathe.” the voice was cruel. Two sets of arms materialized out of thin air behind him and grabbed onto his arms, pinning them behind his back. They pressed on his shoulders and drove the blonde boy to his knees. Admittedly an easy feat, for Ja’far’s inner demons started whispering to his heart that the voices were right. 

 

Images of his mother and father covered in blood came flooding into his mind. All thoughts of fighting back were lost. He started spiraling down, ever deeper, ever darker. He saw through the eyes of his nine year old self. He was kneeling covered in blood and badly beaten. Most of the blood was his, but not all of it. The head of the organization was in front of him, his voice was like a cruel blade cutting into his still fragile heart. “You are a worthless piece of trash. Actually no you’re worse than trash, you are nothing. Trash could at least kill someone were it so inclined. You have failed your mission. Any excuses?” Ja’far just shook his head, he knew no excuse would help in any case. “Fine go back out there and finish the job!” Ja’far had gone back and he had finished the job but he narrowly escaped with his life. 

 

Ja’far was so deep within his own traumatic memories he couldn’t even see his attackers, Judar and two other lackeys pinning his arms. Judar noticed the far away look in Ja’far’s eyes but proceeded with his plan anyway. He punched Ja’far, giving him a black eye, expecting a look of pain but his face remained neutral. Judar punched him again harder, but once again Ja’far didn’t even react. Judar punched and punched and punched trying to draw some kind of a reaction out of Ja’far but nothing happened each time. By the time Judar stopped Ja’far was very bloody and very bruised. Judar’s arms were even sore and his knuckles were bruised. It didn't matter though, Ja’far was too far gone into his own headspace to remember to feel pain.

 

“That aught to teach you to take things that don’t belong to you. Let’s go guys.” Judar collected his men and left Ja’far laying in the dirt. It took him a very long time to collect himself and get up off the ground. He limped the rest of the way to his dorm, his thoughts dark. Ja’far really just needed a long hot shower to silence his memories and the dark voices. He opened and closed the door, then slumped against it needing the support for a quick rest. 

 

“Sharrkan I’m home.” Ja’far called out in a weak voice. “Listen, don’t freak out okay?”

 

Ja’far opened his eyes to see two horror stricken faces staring at his ragged appearance. Once belonged to Sharrkan, the other to Sinbad.

 

“What the hell happened?” Sinbad growled out, murder glowing in his golden features. 

 

“Oh shit. You shouldn’t see me like this.” Ja’far rolled his eyes and tried to straighten his appearance. 

 

“Stop. Just tell me what happened. Please.” Sinbad’s voice was softer but there was still a hard edge to compassion. 

 

“It was nothing. Some dudes just grabbed me is all. I should have fought back anyway.” Ja’far was now trying to rise to downplay his injuries, but Sinbad put a gentle yet firm hand to keep him in place.

 

“You mean you didn’t fight back?” Sharrkan interjected, knowing full well that those jerks would have been no match for Ja’far.

 

“No. I just...I don’t know. I guess I froze.” Ja’far gave Sharrkan a pointed look so he would drop the issue. 

 

“It’s alright. This certainly is not your fault either. What did the guys look like?” Sinbad was trying to be caring, but his anger was steadily rising. No one would ever touch Ja’far again if he had any say in it. 

 

“I didn’t see them. They were wearing masks.” Ja’far lied incredibly easily, but he felt the smallest pang of guilt for lying to his boyfriend. He just didn’t want the trouble of the messy explanation. 

 

“Here let’s get you cleaned up, you look awful. Once we rid you of all the blood we can see if you need to go to the hospital.” Sinbad was in full protection mode.

 

“I don’t need to go to the hospital I’m fine and I can clean my own wounds thank you very much.” Ja’far was started to get annoyed, he wasn’t some fragile doll he could handle himself. 

 

“Oh I’m sorry did the words ‘if it pleases his royal majesty’ slip in unnoticed. I’m going to take care of you and that’s that.” Ja’far rolled his eyes but figured he didn’t really have a choice. Sinbad reached over and gently scooped Ja’far up to carry him to his bed. Once Ja’far was safely on his bed propped up on pillows, Sinbad got a washcloth and a bowl of clean water. Slowly Sinbad began to clean off the dried and caked on blood to reveal the abundance of dark bruises darkening his pale skin. Sinbad carefully felt along his chest and arms to see if he had any broken bones. It didn’t seem like it but Sinbad was truly no doctor. “You should go to the hospital.”

 

“Look I really don’t want to go to the hospital. I just need a hot shower and some pain reliever. I’ll be fine.”Ja’far looked up at Sinbad with sad green eyes, and he couldn’t bring himself to argue further.

 

“Fine but I’m staying here. I want to make sure you don’t have some kind of seizure in the middle of the night or something.” Sinbad was really worried about him, he looked like he got run over by someone.

 

“Hey what am I? Chopped liver?” Sharrkan protested from across the room.

 

“No but he’s my boyfriend so I want to watch him.” Sinbad crossed his arms across his chest. He wasn’t going to budge on this.

 

“Fine.” Ja’far didn’t want Sinbad to worry, so he figured he should compromise on this at least. 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Ja’far had horrible nightmares all night long. It seemed as if his entire past wanted to rise up and swallow him whole. He started drifting back into consciousness slowly, the nightmares reluctant to loosen their grip on him. As he started to wake up he had a strange feeling that something was staring at him. He slowly opened his eyes to find Sinbad staring intently at his face. Ja’far nearly jumped all the way to the ceiling. 

 

“Geez you scared the shit out of me! What the hell are you doing anyway you weirdo?” Ja’far started the long painful process of sitting up. Sinbad passed Ja’far an English Breakfast Tea Latte and a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. “But you do have your charms.”

 

Sinbad gave a half smile but it was apparent that worry still glazed over his eyes. He had extremely dark smudges under his eyes and heaved a great bear yawn.

 

“Were you watching me all night?” Ja’far asked. This was kind of creepy, but it was also kind of sweet. 

 

“Oh yeah he was. He made me stare at you while he went to get food and coffee too. I’m pretty sure he would have murdered me if he came back and you had stopped breathing.” Sharrkan laughed from his twin bed. He was munching on a donut and had a coffee as well.

 

“Why?” Ja’far quirked a pale eyebrow above his blackened and bruised eye. 

 

“I just wanted to make sure you were still breathing. Did you have nightmares last night?” Ja’far’s gaze hardened over and his mouth fell into a straight line. It was all the answer Sinbad needed. “Okay that’s fine you don’t have to tell me.” 

 

Heavy knocks started falling on Sharrkan and Ja’far’s door. 

 

“Who the hell could that be?” Sharrkan asked getting up and checking it. “Oh hello Rurumu, we weren’t expecting you today.”

 

“Shit. Oh god no. This is bad, this is really bad.” Ja’far looked like he was about to bolt out a window.

 

“What? Who is it?” Sinbad looked towards the sound of Sharrkan chatting with a deep voiced woman, man and maybe a teenager?

 

“It’s my mom. She is going to freak when she finds out about this.” Ja’far groaned. This was going to be really bad. Rurumu was going to freak out when she saw him. 

 

The biggest woman Sinbad has ever seen suddenly walked into the bedroom. She had to be at least 6’3”, she had long blue hair that was in twin braids framing her kindly looking face. Behind her entered a man a couple inches taller than her with blue hair in a high ponytail and bulging muscles. Last to enter was a scrawny teenager with closely cropped blue hair and an exuberant look. All three faces fell into a look of shock and horror upon seeing Ja’far bruised appearance. Everyone’s voices started going at once to ask Ja’far what happened and if he was okay and who did this to him.

 

“Alright. Alright guys I am fine. Some punk just beat me up a little. It looks worse than it feels and that’s all I want to say about it. So what are you guys doing here? You should have called.” Ja’far seemed slightly irritated. 

 

“I’m glad we didn’t.” the woman grimly replied, knowing full well Ja’far would have canceled or taken pains to hide his appearance had they given him notice.

 

“Now, now, you should really give your pitty to the other kid. Tell me is he in the hospital?” the man asked with a proud grin.

 

Ja’far pointedly looked away, not really wishing to answer.

 

“Hey who’s that?” the last of the three asked nodding to Sinbad.

 

“Oh god! Please forgive me of my rudeness. This is Sinbad. Sinbad, this is my family. My mother, Rurumu; father, Hinahoho and my kid brother, Kikiriku.” Ja’far said pointing to each in turn. He also added in a silent nod of thanks to Kikiriku for rescuing him from more questions. 

 

“It’s very nice to meet you. Don’t worry I was just dropping by to make sure Ja’far had some food, I’ll be going shortly.” Sinbad said with a kind smile and a wink towards the brother. 

 

“Nonsense. You are going to accompany us for a family meal and tell us all about how Ja’far is doing. No lying or avoiding the subject like he does either. Sharrkan, you too.” Rurumu had a smile, but something about her tone tipped Sinbad off that he didn’t actually have a choice. Sharrkan just laughed and nodded his head. He had at least known what to expect the minute he saw them walk through the door. 

 

“Great it's all settled then. Kikiriku you stay here with the boys, while your mother and I go and get some groceries for dinner!” Hinahoho veritably shouted in his excitement and loud nature. 

 

After Rurumu fussed over Ja’far a little more and promised to bring him bandages the two left to shop. 

 

“Thanks bro I really owe you one.” Ja’far said, sagging with relief at the absence of his overbearing adopted family. 

 

“So why didn’t you fight back? You and I both know that they would have been no match for you.” Kikiriku said with absolute certainty.

 

“He’s got a point you know.” added Sharrkan, who seemed equally interested in the answer. 

 

“It’s nothing. I just sort of black out or whatever.” Ja’far grumbled, obviously not appreciating being ganged up upon. Sinbad wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but he decided to just sit back and listen.

 

“Are you seeing things again?” Kikiriku asked suddenly, a concerned expression on his face.

 

“No...no it was just this once...really I’m fine. I promise I’m fine and won’t do anything stupid, just please don’t tell mom and dad. You know how much of a fight it was to get here.” 

 

“Alright. But you two better watch him.” Kikiriku pointed accusingly at Sinbad and Sharrkan. 

 

When Rurumu and Hinahoho returned, everyone had a splendid meal. The food was delicious and the company was quite nice. Ja’far’s parents were very doting but very loving. The whole affair, while enjoyable, left Sinbad with a twinge of sadness and even more questions about the mysterious blonde boy.


	6. Panic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know it's been like a really long time since I updated this, but here is another chapter. I have one more planned to finish the fic and bring it to a close. Yeah sorry it took so long....

Ja’far and Sinbad stood in front of the dorm building waving goodbye to Ja’far’s parents as they pulled away. Sinbad had his arm under Ja’far’s armpits to steady him if he began to swoon, even though Ja’far tried to explain that he didn’t need it. Sinbad stared hard at Ja’far’s bruised face for a long moment. He shook away his worry, this wasn’t what Ja’far needed right now. Normalcy. That was important. “I liked your parents.” Sinbad said with a large grin and a light chuckle.

Ja’far groaned and rested his head on Sinbad’s broad shoulder. “I’m surprised they didn’t stay to guard me with baseball bats. Probably Kikiriku who convinced them they needed to let me handle this on my own. They can be a bit much sometimes.”

“Hmm...are you and your step-brother close?” Sinbad asked, trying to keep his tone light.

Ja’far nodded. “Yeah, you could say that. I’ve been watching over him since I was adopted, but sometimes I really think he’s watching over me.”

“What did he mean when he asked why you didn’t fight back?”

“Oh that.” Ja’far lifted his shoulder and let it drop. “I’m pretty good at fighting so if I had started to fight back, they probably would have been hospitalized or even died if I didn’t control myself.”

“And when he asked if you were seeing things?”

Ja’far sighed. “I already told you. High school wasn’t a great time and I started having really bad flashbacks in the middle of normal activities. I almost really hurt myself from them. But it’s fine now, I don’t really have them. It was just that one time.”

Sinbad nodded. He needed to watch out for these things from now on so he could do everything he could to protect Ja’far.

“Hey Sin! Your buddy there doing okay?” Judar stepped in front of Sinbad and Ja’far looking extremely smug.

“Oh look at the time we have to go.” Sinbad’s tone is clipped, his face showing absolutely no emotions. He starts to steer Ja’far inside, not even glancing back at Judar.

Judar’s face went completely red, he was livid. It took everything he had not to punch Sinbad in his stupid perfect face. This was not how his plan was supposed to go. Sinbad was supposed to decide Ja’far was weak and stupid and come back to him. Why wasn’t this going as planned? He ground his teeth in frustration, stomping away to go find something to hit.

Sinbad helped Ja’far back to his bed, getting him situated. Ja’far looked over at Sinbad, a bit worried. “Who was that man?”

“Oh uh...an ex of mine.” Sinbad looked somewhat sheepish. He knew exactly how Judar looked.

Ja’far looked at him, his face entirely blank. “He was one of the ones who attacked me.”

“Are you sure?” Sinbad asked, shocked. Judar had a bit of a temper and didn’t always think the most rationally but this? This was too far, even for him.

Ja’far nodded. “I’m sure. I recognize the voice.”

Sinbad believed Ja’far, the time he had known him Ja’far had never lied, even when he could have. But this brought up a new and more troubling problem. It was Sinbad’s fault that Ja’far was hurt. He needed to make this right. To go and deal with Judar and find a more permanent solution. “Ja’far….I think maybe we should take a break.”

Ja’far’s heart stuttered and his breathing was uneven and difficult. He knew this was coming, Sinbad was rejecting him for his weakness. He could feel the spiral, he knew exactly what was coming. He needed to get Sinbad away, gone so he wouldn’t witness Ja’far’s descent into madness. “I was thinking the same thing.” His voice was icy, devoid of all emotion.

Sinbad was shocked. He was going to explain his reasonings and tell him it was only until he could deal with Judar, but Ja’far blamed him for the incident too. He wouldn’t be surprised if Ja’far hated him now. After a few more moments of opening and closing his mouth unsure what else to say, he left. Ja’far really didn’t want him around anyway.

Once Ja’far was sure Sinbad was gone, he leaned forward gasping. Shivers wracked his form. His vision turned completely black, only interrupted with ghosts of his past, haunting him with mocking laughter.

* * *

 

Sharrkan popped back into his dorm, rounding the corner he saw Ja’far lying there completely unresponsive. He was shaking violently, curled into a ball. “Shit! Ja’far! C’mon Ja’far!” Sharrkan shouted, manhandling Ja’far into a sitting position, but Ja’far was far away. He made no sign that he heard Sharrkan, completely dead weight in Sharrkan’s arms. Sharrkan was starting to really freak out, he hadn’t seen Ja’far like this ever. He did the best thing he could think of and called Kikiriku. The phone was answered on the second ring. “What’d we forget?”

“Kiki! Ja’far, he’s shaking and he’s not responding or moving. Kiki, I don’t know what to do and I’m really freaking out right now.” Sharrkan said it all in a rush. The words worsening the sick feeling in his stomach.

“Oh no. Okay Sharrkan, calm down, take a deep breath. Mom, Dad, turn around.” Kikiriku’s voice reflected the severity of the situation, tone deathly calm. “Okay you can’t leave him alone. Jeez you really shouldn’t do this but we don’t really have a choice. You should really never restrain a panicked person it will make them panic more. But you can’t leave him in the room by himself, he’s a suicide risk and you can’t let him be he might start attacking nothing and harm someone. I’m sorry to have to ask you this but have you ever had to physically restrain someone?”

“No.” Sharrkan took a deep shuddering breath trying to calm down his raging panic.

“Okay right now it should be simple. Sit behind him, take his arms and cross them in front of his chest. Hold them securely. Cross your legs on top of his. If he decides to put up a fight, your going to be in for it, but you’ve got to stay calm. Keep talking to him. He might calm down or he might bite you. Under any circumstances do not let him go. He is a danger to others and himself. We’ll be there in five minutes. Thank God we weren’t too far away yet. He’s still breathing right?”

“Yeah but it looks hard for him.”

“Alright it should be fine. Hang in there until we get back, okay?”

Sharrkan had calmed down now, but he was sure he was going to throw up once the crisis was over. “Okay, thanks Kiki.”

Sharrkan hung up and moved Ja’far into the position specified. Once Ja’far was secure he seemed to start struggling. Small jerks and yanks to test his mobility, then he started to panic. He screamed, yelling, “No! Please no! No!” over and over again. Wrestling, trying desperately to free his arms, his legs, anything!

Sharrkan spoke in a calming voice. “It’s okay Ja’far, it’s me. It’s Sharrkan, your best friend. You’re safe. I won’t let anything hurt you.”

Ja’far snapped his head back, cracking Sharrkan’s nose. Blood poured down his face, all over his clothes. Still he held Ja’far firmly captive. Continuing to talk to him in a calming manner. Ja’far looked over his shoulder at Sharrkan with such hate and pain in his eyes, completely shattering Sharrkan’s heart. He started whispering to Ja’far. “I’m sorry. It’s going to be okay. I’m so sorry Ja’far.”

Just then Rurumu burst into the room, followed closely behind by Hinahoho and Kikiriku. “Kiki take care of Sharrkan, Hina hold him.” Rurumu’s voice took absolute control of the situation.

Hinahoho easily manipulated a struggling Ja’far out of Sharrkan’s lap, putting him in the same position on the floor. Rurumu sat in front of Ja’far talking to him, “Ja’far honey, it’s mom. It’s okay now, but you need to calm down. You need to breathe.”

Sharrkan could just hear Ja’far call her a shitty hag, before Kikiriku and him went into the bathroom to clean him up.

“I think it’s broken.” Kiki assessed looking at Sharrkan’s swollen nose.

“Kiki is he going to be okay?” Sharrkan asked, his smooth voice laced over with worry.

“Let mom work her magic, she’s the only one who can bring him back. He’s going to feel horrible for breaking your nose. 

Sharrkan let out a short scoffing laugh. “I don’t give a damn about my nose if he’s okay.”

Kikiriku smiled briefly at him. “Do you have any idea what set this off?”

“No, the last I saw Sinbad and he went to wave you all off. I left to move my laundry to the dryer and found him completely comatose when I got back.”

Kikiriku shrugged. “Well we can ask him later. He’ll probably come back to us for a little while and then pass out. These kinds of things take a lot of energy.”

Once Sharrkan was all cleaned up, they went back into the bedroom. Hinahoho had released Ja’far from the restraint, resting a large hand comfortably on Ja’far shoulder. Ja’far lay with Rurumu hugging him tightly, tears flowing freely down his freckled cheeks. Ja’far saw them enter the room, his face contorted in pain. “Sharrkan I’m so sorry.” He choked out.

“Shhh…” Sharrkan had a small smile, relief flooding through him. “It’s okay. I’m not even worried about it.”

Ja’far sat for a long while just like that, cradled in Rurumu’s arms, until he fell asleep. Hinahoho gathered the sleeping boy and tucked him into bed.

“Honey you should go to the hospital.” Rurumu said gently, placing a caring hand on Sharrkan’s forearm.

“Not until I know he’s okay.” Sharrkan protested.

Rurumu smiled at him, his concern for her adopted son truly touching. “He’s going to be asleep a while. If anything happens I promise we’ll call. Kiki can go with you so your not alone.”

Sharrkan reluctantly nodded. “If he wakes up, please call me.”

“Of course. And Sharrkan? Thank you.”

Sharrkan nodded, leaving with Kikiriku to go to the hospital.


End file.
